NCJ Number
155226
Journal
Journal of Forensic Identification Volume: 45 Issue: 3 Dated: (May/June 1995) Pages: 280-282
Date Published
1995
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article describes the procedure and results from testing for semen from chewing gum in an oral sexual assault.
Abstract
In January 1993, officers of the Burnsville Police Department were called to investigate an armed robbery and sexual assault at a local hair salon. A lone woman, closing a hair salon, had been robbed at knife point and forced to perform oral sex on the male assailant. The man ejaculated in the woman's mouth and forced her to swallow his semen. The investigating officer determined that since the victim had reported the crime through a second party, approximately 20-25 minutes had elapsed since the crime occurred. He also calculated that another 30-60 minutes would be required to obtain an oral swabbing during the usual in-hospital sexual assault examination procedure. Consequently, the investigating officer requested that the assigned duty evidence officer should come to the scene as soon as possible. Initial investigation revealed the victim had been chewing gum prior to the attack and had the gum in her mouth during the sexual assault. Traumatized by the incident, she had continued to chew the gum even when police arrived at the scene. When the duty evidence officer arrived, the investigating officer obtained a sterile gauze pad from the evidence unit, and, without touching the gauze itself, had the victim place the pad in her mouth to absorb as much moisture as she could. Although the victim was not comfortable with this procedure, she cooperated and a thorough swabbing was obtained. When the victim removed the pad, her chewing gum adhered to the gauze and was packaged with the swab. Although oral swabbing yielded negative results for semen, a separate examination of the chewing gum, using standard extraction procedures, recovered sufficient semen for a DNA profile. Although no known offender was found in the State's DNA database, a match was obtained when a DNA sample was obtained from an individual subsequently arrested for a sexual offense.